How
to Build Your Own Sauna – Part Two

In this section, we
discuss framing, the floor, and the exterior.

In "Building
Your Own Sauna - Part One", we
discussed how to choose a location for your sauna and how to prepare it
by installing the necessary plumbing and electrical
connections.

You are now ready to construct the actual sauna!

Are You Ready? Let's Get Started!

If there is no existing framework you will have to install your own
framing. This is, as in a home or shed, simply the wooden
studs that the sides and ceiling of the sauna will be attached
to. Framework can be made from 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 lumber, and
there should be upright posts regularly spaced every 16 inches.

I've Been Framed!

Once the framing is in place, the room needs to be insulated.

Insulation is very important to a sauna, and will be placed between the
framework studs in both the walls and the ceiling. After all,
it is necessary to keep the heat in the room and to save
energy.http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=OiYLL4pgRq0&subid=&offerid=223073.1&type=10&tmpid=1082&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fc%2Fkp%2Finfrared-saunas The insulation will then be covered with a vapor
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A good quality foil vapor barrier can help to reflect heat back into the sauna.

You can now start constructing the walls.

You will need tongue-and-groove
lumber to avoid exposing metal nails in the sauna. If the
nail heads were exposed, they could potentially burn the skin in the
high heat of the sauna. Saunas in Finland are often
constructed with Nordic white spruce, but you can also use western red
cedar to cut down on the cost a little bit.

Begin at the floor and start nailing the lumber to the studs in the
framework. Angle the nails through the tongue portion of the
wood so that they are hidden. Cut the wood so that it fits
evenly from one corner to the other. Work will go a lot
faster if you have one person cutting the wood and another person
installing it.

Is This on the Level?

Continue adding rows of lumber checking from time to time that they are
remaining level. Each wall is constructed in this manner and
then finally the ceiling can be finished off. For the door,
the easiest thing is to install a pre-hung door rather than trying to
hang one yourself.

As with most rooms, in the sauna, molding can be applied to the corners
of the room to give it a finished look. After this, the
benches can be installed. You can construct your own or you
can buy benches from a sauna supply store. Again, make sure
there are no nails or exposed metal parts in your benches.

I Am
Floored!

Once all the woodwork is finished, you can install a ceramic
floor. This is simply a matter of gluing ceramic tiles to the
underfloor and filling the spaces in between with grout.
Be sure to allow time for the ceramic cement
to dry before applying the grout.

Now Hide It!

When the ceramic work is finished, you need to build wooden flooring
panels to place over the ceramic floor. They will need to be
removable so that you can clean the ceramic floor. The
flooring panels are necessary because the ceramic tiles would be too
hot to stand on in the heat of the sauna.

With all the interior work finished the sauna heater can be put in
place and connected to the electrical lines. To finish it off
you simply panel the exterior walls of the sauna and install towel
racks outside the sauna door.

Hey! That's it! How hard was that?

Turn on the heater, let it warm up for about 30 minutes and enjoy your
sauna!